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Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson got around a guard with her final throw and knocked Homan’s stone from the four-foot ring for the win.

“It was very frustrating to lose that one because we definitely outplayed them,” Homan said. “But that happens sometimes, that’s curling. You just move on and take the good from that game and keep doing it.”

Homan has a 4-3 record after 11 draws, good for a share of fourth place in the round-robin standings. Sigfridsson and Scotland’s Eve Muirhead share first place at 6-1 and Russia’s Anna Sidorova is third at 5-2.

The United States, Switzerland and Japan are tied with Canada at 4-3. The top four rinks in the 12-team field will make the playoffs.

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Round-robin play continues through Thursday night.

Despite the loss, Homan and her coach were quite satisfied with the effort against the 2012 silver medallists. The 23-year-old Ottawa skip felt the Canadians took a step forward Tuesday and were more settled on the ice.

“If we keep playing like that, we’ll be fine the rest of the way,” Homan said.

In the afternoon session, Homan hit a draw with her final throw for the win over Italy.

“It was a great last judge by my front end and a great team end,” she said. “We made eight shots that end, so it was good.”

Italian skip Diana Gaspari opened the scoring with a pair but Homan answered with a deuce of her own in the second end. Canada scored three points in the fourth and led 5-4 at the break.

Homan added a single in the eighth before Italy tied the game with a pair in the ninth.

The Canada-Italy game was delayed for a few minutes after the halftime break due to an ice issue. Drops of water were occasionally falling in one area about six feet from the top of one of the 12-foot rings.

The affected area was about the size of a yo-yo in diameter. The icemaker shaved down the ice after each end and pebble was applied before the area was smoothed over with a stone.

Canadian second Alison Kreviazuk first noticed the problem when a drop landed on her head while she was sweeping. The players were advised of the issue and play continued without additional delay.

“You just have to play with what’s given,” Homan said. “I mean, we’ve played on really bad ice before where it’s really tough as well. But it was just one side of the sheet that you couldn’t really play unless you were throwing hits.

“A couple of our sweepers almost wiped out on it as well. But we pulled through, it’s fine. It happens sometimes.”

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the water issue was due to condensation or a leak from the roof. A plastic bucket was stationed on the ice between games to catch any additional drops.

Tournament officials discussed the issue with the curlers and it was decided that play would continue since there was not a player safety concern. The situation was also expected to improve as the outdoor temperature continued to drop.

The problem was rectified in time for the evening draw. The ice was back to normal for the U.S.-Japan game and there were no further issues.

Canada will play Germany and Switzerland on Wednesday.

This is Homan’s first appearance at world championships. She skipped Canada to a silver medal at the 2010 world junior championships.

Homan is hoping to win Canada’s first world women’s title since Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones was victorious in 2008.

Edmonton skip Heather Nedohin finished third at last year’s world championship in Lethbridge, Alta. Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott won the 2012 title.

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